BCCI promised not to expand IPL: CA chief

Cricket Australia (CA) chairman Wally Edwards has revealed that he feared international cricket would be “left behind” by the IPL given its growing popularity, but the BCCI had allayed his apprehension by promising not to expand the event’s schedule for the next eight years.

“There was a real chance India would have gone on an IPL voyage and left world cricket behind,” Edwards told ESPNcricinfo.

“We have a commitment from them that IPL will not change during this eight-year cycle. Dates won’t change, the start date won’t change and the tournament duration won’t change. They’ve given us that commitment and that was important to us.”

Edwards said the BCCI had also been cooperative on the issue of better pays for international players in the IPL. “IPL is important to them, and to the world of cricket players who make a lot of money out of it, and we didn’t want to see it grow. We’ve also negotiated with India to pay the countries more for their players. We’ve got good understandings on that, they’ve been very straightforward and I believe them,” he said.